Contents

Summary

PX1-767 was the location of the village of Camelot, where Merlin retreated with a group of humans, including King Arthur and his court. Here Merlin continued his research and left clues regarding the Sangreal.

Earth Mythological References

"On second thought, let's not go to Camelot. It is such a silly place."

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

From Cretian de Troy's Idylls of the King and Malory's Le Morte d'Artur to Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon and T.H. White's The Once and Future King, the Arthurian legend, and his court at Camelot have captured imaginations for well over a millennium. Romantic legend says it was named after a pagan king called Camaalis. It was the home of chivalry and "might for right" rather than just "might is right". Here the legendary King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table made their headquarters and court, establishing justice and peace in a Solomon like fairness throughout Britain. Here also was the setting of the Round Table, its circular shape signifying that no one knight was higher than any other. All were equal.

As centuries passed, Camelot conformed to the idealistic vision of the writers and culture of the moment written. Even its role as a Celtic and/or Christian court varied depending on the legend. In short, it was considered a nirvana, until destroyed from within by the traitorous knight Mordred.

Whether or not Camelot actually existed has been the source of literary and archeological debate. A variety of sites in Great Britain have been listed as the ruins of the original castle/fortress of King Arthur, including Cadbury Castle in Somerset and Colchester, which in Roman times was known as Camulodunum.

Geopolitical Structure and History

Merlin left clues about his Ascended Being weapon in a transdimensional device he left at Avalon. This device shifted those who activated it out of phase, the cloaked ability became known as "Arthur's Mantle" (9.18 "Arthur's Mantle"). In this other phase, a person could read Merlin's log and see the address of its location.

Armed with this information, SG-1 visited the planet they designated PX1-767 and came across the fortified village of Camelot (9.20 "Camelot") complete with a sword in the stone. According to legend, Arthur did not meet a mortal blow at the Battle of Camlann, but continued to enjoy a fruitful reign at the Camelot of PX1-767. Eventually, he and his knights set off on a quest to find the Sangreal, the "Holy Grail". The village awaited his return. Each villager (apparently only the males) tested their mettle when they came of age by trying to pull the sword from the stone. Legend said that only someone pure of heart would pull the blade free, and once done, Arthur and his knights would return from their quest.

The governor of the village, Meurik, welcomed the team, but grew more distant as they expressed their interest in Merlin. According to Antonius, the village historian, many of the villagers believed Merlin was an evil wizard. This reputation was further enhanced by the safeguard Merlin had installed to ensure intruders would not invade his library. If sensors detected anyone approaching his ancient control panel, a holographic black knight would appear in the village, killing indiscriminately in the town.

SG-1 convinced Antonius to let them into Merlin's library. Eventually they discovered the hidden chamber and the control device, accidentally setting off the safeguard. Antonius, who had returned home, was killed. Meurik banished SG-1 from the village, but they did not leave, instead trying to convince the villagers that the black knight was technology they could eventually overcome. Odyssey beamed the team out before they were forcibly removed from Camelot. Daniel Jackson convinced Colonel Emerson to let he and Col. Mitchell return to try and counteract the device and find Merlin's weapon. Odyssey beamed them directly into the library.

After several hours, Daniel believed he had found the combination to disable the black knight, so he and Mitchell attempted to use the control device. Daniel ran through various combinations, but the black knight returned in the village square. Mitchell left to engage the knight while Daniel continued to frantically try combinations.

A girl Mitchell had befriended, Valencia, was concerned for his plight when neither gunfire nor ordinary swords had any effect on the hologram, but the knight's blade was solid enough to impart a blow of energy. Valencia grabbed the sword from the stone and pulled it free. Mitchell used this sword to fight the knight, distracting it long enough for Daniel to get the device to work. Daniel saw a hologram of Merlin wearing a pendant and had a treasure of gold appear before him, but he could not disable the knight. As Mitchell collapsed, Daniel gave up on working the controls and shot out the power core, thus destroying the hologram before it could deliver a killing blow to Mitchell.

The villagers of Camelot celebrated Valencia as a hero for pulling the sword. They planned a great feast and also wished to honor the two men who defeated the mystical black knight. They were surprised Cameron and Daniel did not wish any of the treasure they uncovered. The hologram and Daniel's research led him to believe the weapon they searched for was the pendant Merlin was wearing. When he explained to Meurik that they sought the pendant, Meurik explained the pendant was the Sangreal for which Arthur and knights quested so long ago to faroff places such as Castiana and Sahal. If Daniel and Cameron remained, they should find out the truth from the prophesied return of King Arthur and his knights. The two team members were beamed away before they could further respond.

Daniel Jackson later returned to Camelot and did extensive research in Merlin's library. From there, he came across references to Sir Gawain and a picture of the knight's sword, including the gate address for Vagonbrei inscribed on it (10.02 "Morpheus"). After going to Atlantis and learning more from Morgan Le Fay, including the Ancient names for Castiana and Sahal, Daniel returned to Camelot to see if he could find more clues in Merlin's library about the location of the Sangreal (10.04 "Insiders"). When lines were drawn graphically between Castiana, Sahal, and Vagonbrei combined with Camelot ended up forming a tetrahedron, a perfect pyramid (10.10 "The Quest Part 1"). In addition, parts of those gate addresses combined gave a new separate address— the location of the Sangreal.